Austrian Genealogy Search

Background:
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic
after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by
the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955
ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional
law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal.
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning
of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic Monetary Union in 1999.

History:
Austrians (German: Österreicher) are defined as the people of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states (March of Austria, Archduchy of Austria, Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary), and to this extent share a common Austrian culture and being of Austrian descent. Common definitions also include speaking the Austrian German as a mother tongue. German-speaking Austrians were historically regarded as Germans, but after the events of World War II and Nazism, this has become out-of-fashion and is generally considered offensive.

Austrians are also often defined by their national citizenship, which had, in the course of Austrian history, varying relations to the above, for example referring to a native German-speaker of the one-time Habsburg empire, or in a wider sense to any citizen of any of the various lands of that empire that did not form the Hungarian half of Austria-Hungary. In the latter sense, the definition included speakers of up to twelve different languages. Today there are approximately 8 million Austrians world wide, even though ethnic identification of who is Austrian is almost impossible, as it is mainly a question of national identity and self-definition.
[from Wikipedia]